High School Football '10: Bainbridge Spartans Lay Hopes on the Line

Bainbridge senior lineman Alec Grimm enjoys playing center for the Spartans, who are coached by his father, Andy Grimm.

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Brad Camp | For the Kitsap Sun
The Bainbridge Spartans look to their line as the strength of the team.

BRAD CAMP

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND -

It’s an old story, yet it cannot be denied. The Bainbridge Spartans just can’t beat O’Dea in football.

The Spartans have lost to O’Dea nine straight seasons (once for every year they’ve been in the Metro League), and if you’re a Bainbridge fan, you are probably sick of hearing about it.

The problem will rear its head Oct. 15 when the Fighting Irish come calling.

“I’m excited that we get them at home because they are always the best,” Spartan quarterback Carson Zajonc said. “We are going to compete with them. We are going to make them earn it.”

There is a different mood about this year’s Spartans. They are going about their business with renewed effort, a determined-to-get-better-each-day approach that is evident in practices.

“We are working very hard, very blue collar,” said Zajonc, a senior who finished last season as the starting signal-caller. “The outcome of last year left a bitter taste in our mouth — still.”

The Spartans made it to the Class 3A state preliminary round last year but were blasted by Lindbergh, 44-6.

“We were close to our goal to go to state, and then to have it fall away, it was pretty bad,” Zajonc said. “There were a lot of expectations last year, and then it didn’t go the way we thought. So (this year) we practice every day to get better. We focus on maximizing our potential every day.”

The Spartans’ fortune lies with a veteran offensive line that averages about 240 pounds across. There is second-team all-Metro center Alec Grimm, son of coach Andy Grimm. The 5-foot-11, 260-pound Grimm, a senior, will be doing the grunt work inside with seniors Will Rynearson and Brandon Connor and juniors Sam Orrey and Logan Dieterich, who is the biggest of the bunch at 280 pounds.

“The strength of our team is our line,” Alec Grimm said. “Everybody is returning and we are a bunch of hard-working, young guys. The (O-line) is what gets the job done, every time. I feel like we can get it done.

“You can have had the best running backs, the best quarterback, but if you don’t have the linemen, I don’t believe you will have that much success.”

Coach Andy Grimm agreed: “It has a chance to be one of our better lines. The guards have to move in our offense and they (Rynearson and Orrey) are pretty mobile.”

Grimm said the Spartans will continue to run the Wing-T, but they have added some variations to keep defenses honest. The Spartans will attack a little more outside and will throw the ball more than is usual with a Wing-T attack.

“You won’t see us spread the field out, but we think we can throw,” Grimm said. “If running is working, you will see us run it. But Carson can throw it. We have kids who can catch it and Carson is not afraid to put it up.”

Unlike last year when the featured back — Alex Johnson — had the majority of the carries, Grimm expects this year will be more balanced between running backs.

The bottom line is that the Spartans hope a balanced attack behind an experienced line will push the Spartans through to the state playoffs.

“We have every bit of an opportunity to maximize our goal to win the Metro,” Grimm said.

And maybe along the way the long ordeal with O’Dea would end.

“I’m not going to guarantee anything,” Zajonc said, “but if it just to happens they (O’Dea) win, it won’t be easy. We are not going down without a fight.”

Bainbridge Spartans

2010 Schedule

Sept. 3: at North Kitsap

Sept. 10: at Kingston

Sept. 17: Salisbury Composite (Alberta, Canada)

Sept. 24: Bishop Blanchet

Oct. 1: at Seattle Prep (West Seattle Stadium)

Oct. 8: at North Thurston

Oct. 15: O’Dea

Oct. 22: at Eastside Catholic

Oct. 29: Metro League crossover

Nov. 6: Playoff/crossover

All games 7 p.m.

Did You Know?

Bainbridge has made the first round of the state playoffs six times, the last time in 2001 (they made preliminary round games in 2006 and 2009). The Spartans have lost those first-round games every time.

Key game

Oct. 15 vs. O’Dea: As usual, it’s the Fighting Irsh, who have made the state playoffs 16 straight seasons, and 22 of the last 23.